ONLINE CURRICULUM & CONTENT

CURRICULUM & CONTENT

Our Online Curriculum & Content provides schools with comprehensive resources to support teachers to implement the new Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum.

Our Content comprises an extensive range of courses for different platforms and covering all year levels from Foundation to Year 10.

Our Curriculum has been designed by specialist educators that have hi-tech engineering and/or computing expertise. Most importantly, our content has been created by teachers for teachers, we understand what teaching and learning is about and appreciate the challenges teachers face.

Our Content has been designed to save teachers time! The courses as well-structured, easy to access and easy to use providing all the resources teachers need in the one place. Whatever your background, novice, proficient or advanced learners, we have courses for you.

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OUR COURSES

Our courses aim to:

provide engaging and creative learning experiences for your students

be as understandable as possible for the novice learner

provide complex challenges for the advanced learner

train teachers in the use of a variety of platforms so that confidence and maximum results are achieved.

Our Courses comprise:

video tutorials,

comprehensive support materials,

solution video tutorials,

teacher only instructional videos and

assessment tasks

links to the Australian Digital Technologies Curriculum.

Each course is made up of a series of modules that progress the learner from gaining fluency in the fundamentals, to the application of advanced concepts in open-ended challenges. The large number of course available at each year level and for each platform allows an opportunity for differentiated learning.

LAUNCH PAD

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MAKING TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBLE FOR TEACHERS

LAUNCH PAD is an opportunity for teachers to take their first steps into launching DigitTech into their classroom.

This two day event is an opportunity for teachers to participate in workshops presented by experts who are ‘in the classroom’, know the new curriculum requirements and, most importantly, know how to use a variety of platforms to deliver the engaging lessons for your students. Whether Scratch, Python, robotics or apps, participants will leave each workshop with the confidence, skills and resources to replicate the activities in their classroom the very next day.

LAUNCH PAD runs during each of the term school holidays so there is no need for expensive CRT replacements. You can attend one or both days and discounts are available to schools enrolling two or more teachers.

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DATES

LAUNCH PAD 1: 4 -5 April, 2017

LAUNCH PAD 2: 12 – 13 July, 2017

LAUNCH PAD 3: 26 – 27 Sept, 2017

Here is what participants have had to say about our workshops:

“Very knowledgeable facilitators who were also excellent teachers (not a very common combination!). This is probably the best PD I have been to in the past few years, I feel much more confident with rolling out digital technologies in my classroom now there is direction and resources available.”

“Thank you! The speakers at each session were great teachers and knowledgeable, and were able to impart a good starting knowledge for this rank beginner. I’m really excited now to go forward in this field, and to encourage other teachers in my school to run with this too. You actually CAN teach an old dog new tricks :)”

IN SCHOOL TEACHER PD

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TECHXELLENT COMES TO YOU

Techxellent provides courses to meet the needs of the Digital Technologies curriculum. Our PD’s give you free access to our courses and all the resources and training you need to deliver them in your classroom. On every topic that we offer, we provide a road map to becoming an expert.

What you get with every PD:

Access to an online course where everything you learned is available in an easy to follow format.

Access to advanced learning resources that go beyond the material covered in the PD.

A realistic road map to achieving excellence in the given technology platform.

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FORMAT OPTIONS

Format options:

Teacher only training for half day or full days

A full day PD comprising a half day of teacher training and half day of teaching your students with you

SCRATCH

Scratch is a visual programming language which creates programs by clicking together colour coded blocks. With scratch the students have the opportunity to build core competencies before encountering the most tedious and challenging aspects of coding (precise nomenclature, debugging and mysterious error messages). Instead every program they create ‘works’ and provides students an output in the form of sounds, movements and animation of a vast array of cartoon characters which can be infinitely modified and personalised.

Despite of being design for primary school students, Scratch is used as a first programming language even at elite universities like M.I.T and Berkeley, so we at Techxellent recommend Scratch as the introductory programming language to both students and teachers.

GameMaker

Game Maker is a downloadable platform which streamlines the development of 2D computer games in the classroom. GameMaker has the wonderful ability to automate elements that are really common in games like animations, levels, health and collisions. When it comes to programming GameMaker uses an Object Oriented approach which is probably the best way for school aged students to learn about parent-child relationships and inheritance. Finally GameMaker has the capacity for students to either used drag and drop code creation or to write their own code which runs elements of the game.

PYTHON

Python is an interpreted text based general purpose programming language, which is a key requisite of the 7-10 Digital Technologies Curriculum. Python is also the only professional programming language that was designed with beginners in mind, it is intuitive and easy to use.

More than just a programming language Python is a vibrant open source community constantly creating new functionality and making Python even more powerful, especially when it comes to web development and data analysis

VEX ROBOTICS

A robot in most simple terms is a programmable computer connected to some sensors and motors. VEX Robotics provides a very powerful computer, as well as very accurate sensors and motors which can create solutions with industrial precision. It also uses text based coding in the most universal programming language: “C’, it also has a capacity for data management and analysis through live monitoring of sensor outputs as well as data logging. All of this makes VEX the perfect robotics platform for the 7-10 Digital Technologies Curriculum

ABOUT OUR TEAM

MEG PINI

Head of Programs

Meg is an experienced teacher of physics, mathematics and science with a special interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). With the current curriculum focus being in these areas Megs’ expertise is highly valuable. Meg has worked as a program co-ordinator for G.A.T.E.WAYS , where she sought out experts and co-created ground breaking educational programs which brought everything from robotics to forensic investigations to brain training to classrooms around Australia with over 15,000 attendees per year. Meg has a BAppSc(AppPhys), GDipEd and currently completing her MEd. Previously, Meg has worked as a designer and presenter of exciting and challenging workshops for gifted children and presented professional development workshops for. Her focus is on assisting students to be active enquirers, making use of higher order thinking skills to extend and enrich their learning.

SANJIN DEDIC

Head of e-Learning

Sanjin combines his passion for teaching and education with an in-depth understanding of a vast array of technologies. He graduated in 2007 from The Australian National University, majoring in Robotics and Computer Vision. He has a unique ability to adapt various engineering concepts into hands on classroom activities and teach everything from Scratch, Python, Arduino to Raspberry Pi to very young audiences. His role with Techxellent centres around doing this on a larger scale in an easy to follow ‘progression model’ which imbues students with a new mindset required for innovation and analytical thinking. In 2016 his goal is to raise the bar in student engagement with programming and robotics by enabling students to communicate with computers much like they do with their friends— using facial expressions and hand gestures.

NAT BRADSHAW

Consultant and Presenter

Nat graduated with a Bachelor of Information Systems from The University of Melbourne in 2003 and spent two years working as an International Fellow, teaching programming and database concepts at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore. Following that, Nat worked as a Solution Consultant for one of Microsoft’s implementation partners in Singapore during which time he qualified as a Microsoft Certified Professional. In 2008 Nat completed a Post Grad Diploma in Teaching from The University of Melbourne and then spent five years working as a teacher of Information Technology and Mathematics at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College. During this time he wrote four Game Maker text books and completed additional coursework towards a Master of Teaching. In 2014 Nat traveled to the Northern Territory and worked as a ICT Coordinator at Centralian Middle School where he taught games programming and robotics.

NARELLE WOOD

Consultant and Presenter

Narelle “gets-it”. As a former Head of English and Literacy, former Student Manager and having delivered many years of teacher training workshops locally and overseas, Narelle identifies with the real-world challenges teachers face, connecting teaching and learning in innovative ways. Her approach to learning includes an unusual background combination of Science and English, which has been instrumental in developing a range of innovative curriculum initiatives and extensive experience with gifted and talented student programs and teacher education. Narelle is currently involved in pre-service teacher education at Monash University and undertaking her PhD – focused on creativity, teachers beliefs, practise and assessment strategies.

TONY DOYLE

Consultant and Presenter

Tony has been involved in primary education for over 30 years. As a classroom teacher, Mathematics and ICT Coordinator Tony has developed a passion for the teaching and learning of Mathematics as well as Information and Communication Technology. Tony is an author of ten student and teacher books and in the area of Gifted and Talented Teaching he has delivered specialised programs to primary students on coding, robotics and mathematical puzzles through history over the past 5 years. He is a strong advocate of Scratch programming throughout the primary years and can trace his own experiences in coding back to both LOGO and MicroWorlds.

CARLA MAXWELL

Consultant and Presenter

Like all of our Techxellent Team, Carla Maxwell’s experience within the Education sector is both vast and impressive. Having spent many years working with children of all ages, Carla has developed a remarkable resume that illustrates her familiarity and fervour for teaching. Carla possesses a broad spectrum of expertise that includes organising the curriculums for various subjects including Robotics, Multimedia, ICT, The Arts as well as Design Technology. It is fair to say, however, that Carla’s true passion lies with educating people on technology having completed a number of tertiary courses for pre-service teachers on the topic. Whilst a large degree of Carla’s experience stems from the utilisation of technology and robotics, she also has a background in Art having been a curator at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery going to show that she is far from one-dimensional and is possessive of a versatility that translates into her work at Techxellent. As previously mentioned, Carla has taught a range of students from primary and secondary students to university and TAFE undergraduates showing that there exists no educational task too intimidating for this passionate asset.

ROBYNE BOWERING

Consultant and Presenter

RobyneBowering is a passionate, hands-on, minds-on educator with classroom teaching experience in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. Robyne’s qualifications include a Master of Education with a specialism in Gifted Education. Her contributions to inspiring student engagement and learning were formally recognised in 2013 with the Monash University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Programs that Enhance Learning, and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans’ National Award for Engineering Education Excellence. Robyne teaches Engineering, Science and Maths to primary aged students for G.A.T.E.WAYS and joined the Techxellent team, teaching robotics, in 2017.

KYLIE MCCOLL

Consultant and Presenter

KylieMcColl is a teacher with experience teaching in primary, secondary and tertiary settings over more than 15 years. After leaving a career in the IT industry as an Analyst / Programmer she began teaching programming at her local TAFE. The joy that she discovered teaching, combined with a passion for problem solving and computer science, has led to involvement in a variety of teaching and project-based roles. She is currently working at the University of Melbourne on the year 12 subject, VCE Algorithmics (HESS) and hopes to continue working to build student understanding in computer science by developing new resources for the Digital Technologies curriculum.

COLIN CHAPMAN

Consultant and Presenter

Colin Chapmanbrings an international education perspective to his Educator program offerings. During his 4 years of teaching the Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry courses for the International Baccalaureate Diploma in Switzerland, he was awarded the 10K Euro Google RISE Award for his development and implementation of the Grlbotics Robotics program. Most recently he set up a Systems Engineering Centre at a Melbourne school, taking responsibility for curriculum and pedagogical development in Robotics and Physical Computing Education. In addition to being the Head of Learning in Mathematics, he is the State Reviewer of the Systems Engineering study for the Victorian Assessment and Curriculum Authority. Colin continues to engage emerging engineers, mathematicians and roboticists through the development of multidisciplinary programs that challenge participants from the Early Years of schooling through to pre-University.

GET IN TOUCH

If you have further questions or would like to find out more about how Techxellent can better facilitate the teaching and learning of STEM subjects at your school, please contact us on 0499 020 132 or email us on info@techxellent.com.au.